Satanic_Hamster:Wait, I thought spousal privilege only applied to communications while they were married?

It looks like there are two different aspects to the law: spousal disqualification and spousal privilege.

Spousal disqualification is applied to conversations while the couple is married: "In any proceeding, civil or criminal, a witness shall not testify as to private conversations with a spouse occurring during their marriage." So if the conversation occurred during the marriage, the spouse can't testify all, even if he/she wanted to.

Spousal privilege is concerned with the relationship: "A spouse shall not be compelled to testify in the trial of an indictment, complaint, or other criminal proceeding brought against the other spouse." So she CAN testify against him, if she wants, but she can't be forced to.

I'm all for laws that say someone can be compelled to testify against their spouse. But the law needs to have a provision requiring that a couple be married for a certain amount of time before that kicks in, a year for example. That would prevent abuses of the law such as people getting married just so one can't be compelled to testify against the other.

Cloudchaser Sakonige the Red Wolf:I'm all for laws that say someone can't be compelled to testify against their spouse. But the law needs to have a provision requiring that a couple be married for a certain amount of time before that kicks in, a year for example. That would prevent abuses of the law such as people getting married just so one can't be compelled to testify against the other